In the early 2000s, I was a principal in the Bronx, first at the High School for Law, Government, and Justice and later at the Eagle Academy for Young Men.
Now, two decades later, I am chancellor of New York City Public Schools, and I can attest firsthand: our school system has changed dramatically — and for the better — in that time. Unfortunately, the way New York State funds our schools has not.
Today, our schools offer services and support that, while critical, I could have only dreamed of as a principal. We’ve added two new grades, Pre-K and 3-K. We’ve established community schools, rigorous and relevant career pathways programs, free full-day summer programming for more than 100,000 students, and much more.
Yet our ability to continue to expand and improve these services is limited — because the state’s funding formula has not evolved to meet the needs of our schools.
Most of our state funding comes from a formula called Foundation Aid, created around the time I was a principal. It was a major step forward for New York State, providing a baselined funding source for districts. Unfortunately, it took more than 15 years for the state to fully fund this formula, and it is now based on data and educational models that are nearly 20 years old.
Plus, the city’s contribution to our schools has increased faster than the state’s, so local government is shouldering more than its fair share. This year approximately 57% of our funding will come from New York City and only 37% from the state — a dramatic shift from an equal split in the early 2000s.
This summer, at long last, New York State is reviewing its Foundation Aid formula. This is a move in the right direction, and I encourage the state to make the following changes:
- First, the state must consider the base on which the formula is built and update the successful school district model, as it simply no longer reflects the academics, services, and programming our students deserve.
- Second, the formula should provide support for students in temporary housing and students in foster care, including the 40,000-plus newest New Yorkers who have arrived in our city since April 2022. We have and will continue to offer wraparound support for this population, such as enrollment counselors, bilingual staff, and shelter-based coordinators — and while I’m proud that we have updated our city funding formula to better serve students in temporary housing, this need is not covered by Foundation Aid.
- Third, the state should increase special education weights to more fully and fairly serve all learners. The current formula uses a single weight for special education, even though every child’s needs are unique. We need an updated model to better support our 200,000-plus students with disabilities. As just one example, with adequate funding we could expand our best-in-class specialized programming, including our renowned autism programs.
- Fourth, the state should review and update the regional cost indices. Wages and costs vary widely across the state, and competitive wages are only increasing for our 70,000-plus teachers and tens of thousands more employees. We need a formula that allows us to pay our staff what they deserve and purchase goods and services at what they cost in New York City in the year 2024.
- Finally, the state should designate dollars specifically to support the new class size mandate. Reduced class size is a worthy goal; we are in compliance with the law and plan to stay that way. But the task before us is immense — we anticipate needing 10-12,000 new teachers, and both the Independent Budget Office and the city comptroller estimate the annual cost of compliance is more than $1.5 billion for staffing alone. We need the state’s support in this effort.
Ultimately, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made at New York City Public Schools, both since my days as a principal and in my tenure as chancellor. Our graduation rates have surpassed 80%. We experienced our first enrollment increase in eight years, and in 2023, student proficiency increased 12 percentage points in math and nearly three percentage points in ELA. But to extend and accelerate this growth, we need the state to better support our progress.
It’s time for an updated formula that addresses today’s true cost of successfully educating students in New York City. Our children have limitless potential; they just need our investment to reach it.
Banks is New York City’s schools chancellor.